Waiting In The Dark
by nikitafanx
Summary: One person's love is another's pain. When you love someone that much, is it really that easy just to let them go? MALEX. Michael struggles with Alex's new found interest in Nathan but will he let slip how much she really means to him? R&R please.
1. Black And Blue, You'll Come Through

**I don't own Nikita or any of its characters etc. **

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Well hey… This is the first chapter of my new story and apart from the fact that it's to do with Nikita it has nothing to do with my other one, it's not a sequel. I hope you enjoy it! Please read and review because I always love to hear what you have to say, especially when I start a new story :).

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**Alex's POV**

"Hello stranger."

I glanced up from nonchalantly biting my nails to see a slightly agitated Michael, frowning down at me. His eyes blazed with intensity, but it was nothing he hadn't tried before. Somehow he always looked like had something on his mind... And I was the only person to ever notice how much it affected him.

"Hi," I replied in a monotone, expressionless voice. I wasn't in the mood for conversation, and certainly not with him, after what he'd done.

"Is this a good time to talk?" The light shifted in his eyes and he almost sounded apologetic. Almost.

"Well, since you're already talking, and I don't have a choice to listen to you… Then I say what the hell," I studied his face carefully for a hint of reaction but my bluntness hadn't altered him at all. _Damn it._

"You're going to have to forgive me sometime Alex," the carved-out worry lines in his forehead deepened and he watched as I subtly shook my head, but I guess it wasn't subtle enough.

"You will, eventually. You can't resist."

His eyes danced playfully as he sat down in the seat next to me, "No. I don't. And you're more resistible that you care to think." I shuffled as far away from him as the sofa allowed and pouted like an unhappy child.

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****Michael's POV**

I took a breath as I watched the sun swallow her face and bask it in a gleam of warm, yellow light. Her eyes twinkled and she clearly seemed to be enjoying the way she got under my skin.

"Alex, it's okay," I laughed. "I'm touched that you care so much about me but I'm sure Nathan will forgive me."

"It's not you I'm worried about! And just to clarify things, I never worry about you. In fact, I would go as far as saying I don't give a damn… It's me… Do you _seriously_ think that he'll ever want to talk to me again after the way you acted?" She averted her gaze and then quickly looked back, her piercing blues eyes glaring straight through me. I tried to turn down the corners of my mouth and conceal my smile but I could tell by the way she narrowed her eyes, that she thought it was everything but funny.

"Oh come on," I teased. "Was I really that bad?"

"You _punched_ him in the nose!"

I sucked in my cheeks and grinned what I hoped was a cheeky smile, "I guess that wasn't my best behaviour was it?"

"Michael!" The pitch and volume of her voice rose to an ear- shattering level. "He had to go to the hospital… and get stitches! And it was all because you can't control your anger problems." Her slender finger jabbed my chest rapidly before returning to her mouth, where she continued to chew the nail down to the nub.

"He shouldn't have done that to you," I lowered my voice and kept my face as straight as possible, simple instructions on how to deal with an unruly recruit.

"Oh and what?" Alex exasperated. "Are you my sort of guardian angel now then? I don't need _you_ to look out for me. And what Nathan and I did wasn't wrong… we're both adults."

My heart started to race within my chest and I felt myself start to tense up, things were going to get heated.

"Yes Alex, you are an adult. Within Division. And whatever you do in your own time that doesn't agree with the rules, has repercussions that I have to follow through with, you of all people should know that."

The stabbing pain that emanated from within my chest felt like betrayal and I waited for whatever over- exaggerated excuse she had to offer.

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**Alex's POV**

He was acting unbelievably. It was absolutely _none_ of his business who I was with and when.

"So what?" I mocked. "Aren't you going to do what you always do when I screw something up? Take the blame or make it look like it never happened? What am I your favourite or something?"

I knew as soon as the words had exploded out of my mouth that they should have never had been said at all.

Michael's jaw tensed up and he took a threatening step towards me, all the laughter had disappeared.

"I don't have favourites," he stated almost like he had recited it a thousand times before.

"Are you sure about that?" I challenged him and matched his stance so our faces were only inches apart. I felt his warm breath wisp past my cheek every time he exhaled in frustration and I felt my heart stammer and softly beat between the words we exchanged.

"Without a doubt."

Three simple words, yet they stung more than Nathan storming out had.

"Then_ why_… do you care?" I was unsure whether I would be able to cope with the answer, and when he opened his mouth to speak I realised it was too late to take it back.

Michael glowered and the lighting in the room cast haunting shadows across his face, "I don't. But it still doesn't mean that you should have slept with him."

I gulped. I had no idea that he knew so much.


	2. Live The Lie, Until It Becomes Your Life

**I don't own Nikita or any of its characters etc. **

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__Hey… I am so mad lol!... Grrr Nathan and Alex should not be together and I think Nikita should be with Owen. Where has he gone by the way? Anyway I can still have Malex in my head… Hope you enjoy this chapter. Read and review please :)._

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**Alex's POV**

"I d- do- don't know what you're talking about," I stuttered. Any attempt at lying to Michael was pointless, he'd been trained to spot, and kill, liars.

"Don't you dare lie to me Alex!" Michael shouted and for a second we both stood in silence, unsure what to do or say, to each other next.

"Nathan and I are just friends, it's as simple as that," I whispered and I felt my eyelashes brush against my face as my eyes blinked rapidly.

Michael took a step back and cooled down, my head was thumping to the rhythm of Nathan's music and I swallowed the lies that had formed in my throat. He looked at me and there was something there indistinguishable. Pain? Anger?

"Did I ever tell you the story of what happened with Daniel?" Michael paced around the room, and every now and then stopped to examine me with his mysterious, hazel eyes.

"I don't know who Daniel is," I lied and I could feel the sweat start to line the palms of my now sticky hands, as I tried my best to sound clueless.

"Daniel," Michael started. "Is… Was, Nikita's fiancé. She got a little too attached and then one day Division just decided they'd had enough and Daniel was gone. Just like that."

"Are you… threatening me?"

"No," Michael's square jaw tightened and he tensed his broad shoulders before glaring at me from underneath his furrowed brow. "I'm just warning you."

"I'm not a little girl anymore Michael… I'm not that- that Russian girl who lost her parents, I've grown up… I've had to. So I don't need you to control how I live _my_ life. I am not a child," I persisted although Michael looked like he had lost interest in what I _needed_ to say to him.

"No," he scoffed. "Clearly you're not."

"Excuse me?"

Michael didn't reply to my question and instead he simply stated, "You need to be careful Alex."

I tucked my soft, sandy curls to one side of my neck and smiled innocently, "Live the lie until it becomes your life, right?"

"That may be true Alex, however, there are still boundaries. And you need to keep your cover otherwise you could be putting Nathan, and yourself in danger," the corners of Michael's mouth twitched and his name tasted like acid on his tongue, he turned away in disgust.

"What do you have against him?" The sudden shout made my throat sore, which didn't really matter because Michael seemed to lower his voice to a whisper, so instinctively then next time I spoke I matched it.

"It's not him personally Alex, it's you with him that I don't like," there was that look was again. The only difference was that this time I knew exactly what it was. Disappointment.

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**Michael's POV**

My heart sent blood surging through my veins and it fluttered momentarily. Alex looked confused.

"Are you _jealous?_" She asked and I couldn't help but notice how the one side of her rosy lips raised just slightly higher than the other.

"No, Alex. I am your mentor and you will show me some respect. You know for a fact that relationships are not allowed in Division and I don't have feelings for _any_ of my recruits. Do you understand me?"

What I had said was the complete opposite to what was whirring through my mind. The thought of Nikita and the day she went rogue flashed into my mind. The amount of pain she had caused me and the damage that could never be undone, forced me to swear to myself never to let my feelings take control over my mind again. I half-heartedly told myself that I had done a good job on keeping that promise, but I knew from the first time I laid eyes on Alex, that she would be nothing but trouble.

"I'm not sure I do," Alex's brisk, forced laugh snapped me out of my thoughts and I did a double take. The way she always managed to captivate me with her words and the way she spoke every one of those words, was irritating at best.

"What do you mean, Alex?"

"Well," she took a baby step forwards but it was enough to flood me with uncertainty. "I might be just imagining it but sometimes… the way you look at me…"

She looked into my eyes questioningly, waiting for an answer, but I didn't have one to give, "Alex, please, just stop it."

Her stubbornness really came into light as she carried on anyway, "The way you look at me. And only me, makes me wonder…"

I tried by upmost hardest to avoid her gaze but her violet blue eyes in the iridescent lighting caught my attention, "Wonder what exactly?"

"Whether," her voice was in a whisper and I heard the faint sound of her rapid breathing. When neither of us spoke, I could have been sure I could hear her heartbeat… because the speed of it matched mine. "You actually stick by those rules that Division sets us."

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****Alex's POV**

I had no idea I was acting the way I was. Maybe it was rebellion? Maybe I actually felt that way? Whatever the reason it was too late to take it back and I was stuck, waiting for Michael to say something so I didn't look stupid.

Michael sighed and wrung his hands together, he looked uncomfortable, "This is extremely inappropriate Alex… And I've told you before…"

"Just answer my question Michael," I said. I knew I had begun to crack him when I saw him raise his eyebrow and slide his tongue over his lips.

"No," was the only word I received.

"Why not?" Only after I had heard my self say it did I realise how whiny it sounded.

"Because," he murmured. "It's not necessary."

He turned to leave on his heel but I grabbed him swiftly by the hand before he could go, and maybe I held on a little longer that I initially intended to. I looked him straight in the eyes and whispered, scared, "It's necessary to me."

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**Michael's POV**

I put off leaving and turned so my body was parallel to Alex's. She deserved an answer. I glanced down at my hand which was encased in hers and gently pulled away before saying, "Why?"

"Because," she sighed loudly and dropped her lonely hand back down to her side. "You can't just keep going around treating me differently than everyone else, get jealous and protective over me and then claim there isn't anything you feel that's different than when you look at anyone else Michael."

I knew what she was saying was true but I also knew the answer that she wanted. So I gave her the opposite.

"Fine, I'll treat you the same as everyone else."

"That's not what I meant!" She flopped her arms down onto the table and looked at me with determination.

"Bye Alex. I'll see you soon," I walked over to the front door of her apartment and shut it behind me as I left for Division, where I belonged. They had taken me in when I needed them and looked after me, they had given me my life back. But Alex, Alex was something different. I could deny it all I wanted but I knew that at some point I would have to choose what was really important to me.


	3. I Thought I Told You

**I don't own Nikita or any of its characters etc. **

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_Hey, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages I was on holiday :)… I hope you enjoyed the last chapter! I'm really glad you guys are liking this story, it means a lot… OMG Michael knows about Alex!... Well he doesn't in my story… Yet ;)… I hope you enjoy this chapter, please read and review._

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**Alex's POV**

"Hi. Can I come in? Please?" I stood in Nathan's doorway and caught myself hugging his old jumper to keep my arms warm from the freezing draft that whipped through the blinds.

"I don't think that's such-"

"_Please_," I begged. I trilled my fingers up and down the fleecy sleeve and dug into the deep of my skin as I waited for him to respond. He face didn't change and he took a step away from our conversation and pressed his lean body against the cold countertop of the kitchen island.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry, for Michael, for everything… I never _wanted_ you to get hurt you have to believe me right?"

Nathan narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side, shaking it in disbelief. His lip curled in disgust and I winced as the sound of his rag smacking the ground bounced off the walls, "Michael? So that's why you came? Really Alex? Michael?"

What? Michael? What the hell was he talking about?

"No," I protested but Nathan's tone had a way of getting underneath my skin and I struggled to maintain my composure. "This has nothing to do with Michael. I came here because of you… For you. Trust me, there is nothing going on between Michael and I."

"But you want it to."

"I-I."

I couldn't deny I had feelings for Michael; he was part of the reason why I hadn't been cancelled already. It's just, my feelings for him weren't anything like the ones Nathan was implying.

"I thought so," Bitter. It was the only word I could think of to describe the way he spoke just then. He glanced up from the floor gingerly and the cute creases in his nose twitched vaguely, and I felt my heart melt ever so slightly when he blinked sadly.

The harsh tones of the bell ringing broke the silence and I pulled the jumper further up my neck, to hide the fact that I was gulping every other second my stomach wasn't wrenching.

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**Michael's POV**

"Well hello there," The smile which plastered itself across my face was routine and couldn't have been any more insincere because the honest to god truth was, I couldn't have been more disappointed that he had answered the door and not Alex. We hadn't spoken since last night and I had a few things that were weighing down on my chest, which I _needed _to say.

"What do you want?"

"Alex. Or to a certain extent."

Nathan edged in closer to the door so I invaded his close circle of personal space, my hand temptingly close to his face. His hands looked sweaty and I smirked. He was just a kid. I swayed to the left and scanned his apartment, not bad, but it stunk of alcohol and college parties.

"Alex isn't here," his eyes narrowed and then reopened and a smile crept on his lips. "But I could pass on a message to her when she spends the night, if you'd like."

Was he- Was he testing me? Today of all days? Today was shit and the last thing I needed was some teenager challenging me, for my own recruit.

"Go. Away. Michael," Alex's voice rang out and I smiled, I shoved past the irritation stood in front of me and gave an extra little push for luck, revelling as he stumbled backwards.

"Ah look, my favourite little employee. You know, I looked for you in your apartment and you weren't there."

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**Alex's POV**

I groaned to myself when I saw Michael's face appear in front of me. He looked _pissed._ Today was meant to be my day, one little bit of time where I could relax without having to handle Michael or Division. Today I had planned to make everything right again.

"Look Michael," Nathan hooked his thumbs through the denim loops in his belt and my eyes were drawn to just underneath them, I teased the corner of my lips with my tongue but retracted when I noticed Michael glaring down at me. "She doesn't want to see you, so why don't you do us both a favour and leave her alone?"

For the first time in a very long while I felt a little bit of hope. Finally here was a guy, practically flawless, standing up to Michael and defending _me._

Clearly Michael wasn't so convinced and he scoffed, his fists clenched underneath his blazer sleeves, "You think you're a big man? Well guess what? She does not have a choice. It's a simple as that; little you doesn't know the big boys he's playing around with."

"Now is not a good time Michael," They were too absorbed in their own argument that they had probably forgotten I was even there, and that it was me their fight was about, because the look on both stunned faces was priceless.

Michael raised his low eyebrow and tensed his jaw, which emphasised the natural, and beautiful features of his structured face. Nathan just sighed and looked away, "Why am I interrupting something?"

"Yeah, you were actually. So you can just leave now," It felt amazing to be able to stand up to Michael. No, it felt amazing for me to respect myself enough to stand up to anybody.

He clenched his teeth and muttered underneath his breath, in a deeply sinister voice, "It's time to go to work Alex."

I glared at Michael through my heavily made-up lashes and I didn't even break my gaze when Nathan stormed off into another room and shouted back, "Well when it all works out for you, don't say I never told you so."

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**Michael's POV**

My heart faltered momentarily when I heard him speak. _What_ had Alex told him in their moments of… passion?

"What did he mean by that?" Telling stories would get you watched, but telling secrets would get you killed.

She barged past me, our arms brushing swiftly before she spun around so our faces were inches apart. I could smell the mint in her mouth and my eyes lingered on her body.

"Nice jumper, by the way. Did you steal it, or did Nathan give it to you?" I wanted to take my words back as soon as I said them and as soon as their impact was obvious in her expression across her forlorn face.

"You know what Michael?"

"What?" My anger bubbled up inside of me until I snapped. Alex was disrespectful, rude, stubborn and pretty. The last of which she thought she could use on me whenever she needed anything, but pretty isn't enough to save your life.

"I am sick. No, I am _done_ with you thinking just because you work for some organization that are so stuck up their own arses they can almost see daylight, that you have the right to own me. Well guess what big guy? You don't. You never will. So why don't you just fuck off?"

Dammit, I'd had enough. It wasn't just the fact that she answered back. What really got to me was that she enjoyed it, and enjoyed what she knew it did to me.

I gripped her arm and slammed her against the wall near her apartment. Her eyes danced with excitement and I pressed her possibly a little too hard.

"Get off!" She spat out her vicious words and blew at the hair which had fallen across her delicate face.

"Alexandra, just stop. Just stop for a second and think about what you're going to do next because the way you've been acting up lately, well let's just say it's not going to get you very far. And last night! I don't care to think of how you thought you could get away with flirting, and faking your personal feelings for me. So, care to explain?"

It was a bold step on my part but I needed answers and matching Alex's behaviour was the only way I was going to get them. I felt the strange sensation of my heart fluttering deep in the empty darkness of my chest and frowned. I wanted her to tell me that what she had said was no more a lie than her feelings for Nathan.

She struggled against me to reach up for her hair but I dropped her hand back down to the other and brought my own hand up to her blushed face, "Here." I whispered and tucked the stranded pieces behind her ear.

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**Alex's POV**

The warmth of Michael's hand as it skimmed my face was familiar, I had thought I'd dreamed about it before but my recollection of how his fingertips lingered there was as vivid as the day was blue.

"Thanks," my gratitude came out quietly, almost inaudible and Michael released me from his weakening grip.

"Just forget about what I said. You don't have to explain yourself to me," Michael's sudden change in attitude took me aback and I nodded quickly, so he didn't have time to change his mind.

I rubbed the red finger marks against my usually fair skin, "Where are we going anyway?"

"Percy wants to bring you in for questioning."

I had prepared for the day he would say those eight little words with Nikita but I never would have thought they would come so soon. Images of what Amanda had done to Nikita flashed across my mind. They had chained her up like some sort of wild animal when the real monsters were Division.

"Questioning?" My own questions caught in my throat and broke up my sentence.

Michael laughed genuinely and his eyes changed from their usual intense state to a happy, carefree, and engaging green, "Don't worry. Percy has requested someone to come in and interview an agent who is hiding something vital."

"Well," I stuttered. "Can't Amanda or Percy do it themselves? Or what about you?"

"I'm the one who volunteered you. They are set on the slightly disturbing idea that you'll learn something valuable from the experience."

I repeated my words, interrogation was not on the top of my favourite Division activities list and I wasn't going down without a fight, "What about you?"

"I… Want you."

I caught my breath, my chest tightened and the room began to spin around me. What he had said was all I had ever wanted to hear him say. But then he had to ruin it as a hint of a small laugh escaped from his breath.

"To do this mission."

"Oh."

I swore I saw a flicker of an apology but I could have been imagining it. I readjusted myself and crossed my arms so I was clutching my own waist in a subconscious attempt to comfort myself, "How important is it?"

Michael rubbed his morning stubble and grumbled, "Very. If Percy doesn't get what he wants, he's contemplating cancelling the agent."

His grief overwhelmed me and I outstretched my hand to take his when I realised it can't be like that, "I'm sorry. They must be really important to you."

"She is. She means a lot to me."

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**Alex's POV**

It was only when we arrived at Division that it clicked. There was no 'agent'. I knew it as soon as I felt Amanda's cold, emotionless eyes boring into me. I was the one being interrogated, and the injection in her hand was always meant to be for me. I knew I should have been scared, even terrified but all I could think about was what Michael had said. _She means a lot to me. _He had used me, and lied to me. I dared to take a peek at what he was doing but his eyes were locked on the floor in shame. My heart cried for help but the only words that escaped were…

"Please, Michael. You need to help me get through this."

But he didn't even bother to watch me plead, because when I looked at him again... he was gone.


	4. Tired

**I don't own Nikita or any of its characters etc. **

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_Sorry I didn't update sooner, I haven't been feeling very well… but here it is :)… I think I might be Malex deprived so I put some in here… Please read and review and let me know what you think_

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**Alex's POV**

"Tell me what you're hiding," she said in the coldest voice I've ever heard her use.

"Nothing," I lied through my teeth and flung my head back against the bleach white pillow in pain, as she pushed another 2 cc's of whatever shit she was using into my system.

She sighed, flicking the syringe, "We've been at this for two hours now Alex. My patience is starting to wear thin. I'm going to ask you one last time. Tell me what you know."

I swallowed down a big gulp of stuffy air. According to Amanda warm air would increase the chances of the Sodium Pentothal working. Truth serum.

"I don't know anything! And even if I did what makes you think I would tell you of all people after you've treated me like… like… I'm Nikita? I'm nothing like-"

I had gotten used to her behaviour over time and I knew exactly how to deal with it.

She cut me short, "I've had enough. Dr Adams? Go and find me Michael."

Or at least I thought I did but when I heard his name ring out I was lost.

A shadow of a former Division agent flickered into the room. Michael's face was so… so drained that I suddenly wanted to give him everything I had left, every ounce of fight I wanted to share with him which was stupid because he was the reason why I was handcuffed to a bed in the first place. But his face… it was so washed out and dishevelled yet somehow it managed to look perfect. And now his face was in front of mine.

I laughed bitterly, "So you're back then?"

"Alex-"

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****Michael's POV**

Her eyes were shining bright with tears like dying stars and I reached down and adjusted the thousands of wires sticking out of her drooping arms. I had never wanted any of this to happen, I just wanted answers.

"What the hell are you playing at?" I hoped I didn't look as nauseous as I felt. "How could you let them do this to me? How can you still stand there and watch as they _torture_ me? I _thought_ we were friends."

Her words were like daggers and I clenched my fists before staring out of the boxed in window, it was raining. Which wasn't unusual for this late in November, but the sound never grew old.

"Division- doesn't have friends," I said half- heartedly while trying to fight back the tears which were on the verge of falling.

How many times had she heard that line before? _Division doesn't have friends. _Definitely more than one person should.

"What happened to you Michael?"

I had been so accustomed to relaxing when I was around her that I hadn't even cared about what happened when I went back Division, they could have threatened to cancel me for all I had cared. But I knew that had to change.

"Nothing _happened_ Alex," I snapped and her face fell instantly, Amanda was long gone and out of earshot. "It's always been Division over my own personal interest in making friends… no one… nothing can change that."

"What about people who are more than friends?" Her eyes danced with pure elation but I wasn't having this conversation again. I knew from experience that once you started to think about happiness which was too far out of reach, it was hard to stop.

"Division doesn't allow relationships," I collapsed in the chair adjacent to the bed and fell my head into my hands, this conversation was growing tired. I was tired.

Alex rolled onto her side and tucked the wires behind the monitor. She watched me for a while before swallowing and flattening her hand against her neck , something I'd noticed her do before, "Just because Division doesn't allow relationships, it can't stop feelings."

That much I knew was true.

"Was it me who you were talking about when you said you had someone special who meant a hell of a lot?"

I kept quiet and she stared at me in utter disbelief and her voice cracked, "Michael!" Her expression summed up my feelings perfectly, it was amazing how much one brief flash of emotion could show about a person.

"I do what I do to protect the people I care about!" I yelled at her but she didn't flinch, the drugs must have taken effect. "I can't make everyone happy and if that bothers you then I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do about it. Just take the situation and _handle_ it, like you would a mission. It doesn't really matter because if I did like someone I highly doubt she would feel the same way."

Alex's lower lip stuck out and she pouted stubbornly.

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****Alex's POV**

He was explaining things patiently but I could see it was beginning to take its toll on him. But I wasn't about to give up. This was my life, a life I had worked for. And one time, just for once, didn't I deserve to get what I wanted for a change?

"You seemed to make Nikita happy," my head started to spin and the room swallowed the bed up from underneath it like an alligator destroying its prey. I was wasted, in more ways than one. I had never seen anyone look as guilty as he did right then, when he realised just how much he had screwed things up in his life. My lips felt numb to the touch and I slurred my words, "Shhhit. What the hell did she _give_ me?"

"What?" He pushed back his chair so hard it slammed against the wall and he rose from it with so much hate that I thought I saw of someone I knew in him.

The shining lights above my head amused me and I cracked up, "When she kidnapped me that you two used to have a teeny little thing and that… what was it now?... something about… no that's not it… got it! That you would always somehow manage to let people down eventually, no matter how much they meant to you, because you are Percy's personal sheep! Ha ha, sheep. _Baaa._"

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****Michael's POV**

I glared at her, how dare she imply that I was so easily swayed that I could change my mind with the click of Percy's fingers?

"She's lying."

She rested her eyes and blew into the air so a thin strand of sweat- drenched hair flapped back and forth every time she drew a breath, "I don't think so, you let me down pretty hard."

_Nikita._ She had caused me so much unbearable pain that all I wanted was to be free. Free of her, free of the way she made me feel and free of the constant questions that spilled from Alex's mouth.

My heart took a suicide dive and I leapt up, clutching onto her arms so her shoulders were pressed against the mattress. I whispered into her ear, "Forget about Nikita. She's in the past and the person I think I might have strong feelings for now? I don't think she feels the same way and sometimes… it rips me apart."

"What if she does?" She mouthed the words but that didn't make their effect any quieter.

Her skin burned beneath mine and I couldn't tell you if I was asked, whether it was from the medicine or the longing that I saw when I lost myself in her beseeching eyes.

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****Alex's POV**

He shot me a look which sent electric shocks running up and down my spine and I felt the blood rush to my face when he leaned in even closer. He looked at me sympathetically and I rolled my eyes incredulously, "Michael." I stretched up my hand to touch his face but the double vision made me stroke the edge of the IV stand. "Why won't you just say-"

He clamped his hand over my mouth and didn't even budge when I ran my tongue down his fingers. I remembered what they had told me, at Division. To always tell the truth and that was what I was trying to do except Michael wasn't letting me.

"Shhh," he hissed.

I listened intently, and an echo of Amanda's heels clacking down the corridor slipped into the room, stopping outside of the door and then carrying on its way.

His fingers trailed down my cheek and stopped just above my heart. I felt the drumming escaping through his fingers like sand and it lulled me into a sense of peace.

"What are you doing?" I murmured.

He pointed to the heart monitor, it was black, "I'm just checking you're still alive."

"Oh that's nice- I'm feeling sleepy."

He shuffled off of me and succumbed to the space next to me. He said something that sounded good, but I was so far away I couldn't make out what it was.

But one thing I _could_ tell was the heat that came from Michael's hand when he laced his fingers through mine underneath the safety of his jacket and the sound of Amanda's emotionless voice when she said, "Michael? What are you doing?"


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